China leaves Pyeongchang on a high

Here is this week’s China Sports column for SupChina, which was first published here.

Short track world record gives China long-awaited first – and only – gold in Pyeongchang

China’s saving grace came almost at the last attempt.

Despite pre-Games talk from Chinese officials that medals would be hard to come by and that it was a real possibility China could return from Pyeongchang with no gold medals, the public has become used to feasting on Olympic titles since the 2008 Summer Games. With three won in Sochi four years ago, and some of the more reliable prediction algorithms tipping Chinese athletes to win six events, expectations were high with the long build-up to 2022 increasing interest this time around.